Friday, July 3, 2020

My pond-side Agave ovatifolia, a retrospective

Last week I found myself looking—really looking—at the Agave ovatifolia next to our stock tank pond. My thoughts were along the lines of "how much longer am I going to be able to leave that agave in that container?" It's getting big, really big. Of course I have no idea how I would get it out of the container without smashing it to bits—something I don't plan to do.

Then—as though she read my mind—Pam Penick posted about switching placement of two of her 'ovatifolia'. Just like that—bam—huge spiky plants were moved. She hired help, even then I don't know that I could do it. I imagine a smashed pot and a broken agave.

Here's what it looked like when I planted it, in 2014 (post here). The thing was so small I stuck other agaves in there with it, so it didn't look pathetic!

These photos were taken right after we had the fence built (there had been a large, unruly, privet hedge). It's freaky how new and wide-open everything was!

Here's how things looked a year later, in 2015 (this post)...


Then in 2016 (post)

And here's a photo from 2017. In that post I actually wrote: "How much longer can I let the Agave ovatifolia live in that container? I can't imagine trying to free it."...

Here's a double-shot from 2018 (post)...

And from 2019 (post)...

And today...

What really caught my eye, and got me thinking about it's size, was the way one of the leaves has hit the tank and is growing up, at a 90-degree angle. It's hard to see in this photo, but it's under the large one growing out over the tank.

It's been my experience that pot-bound agaves stay smaller than those in the ground...so I am surprised it's gotten this large. Time will tell if it just keeps growing, starts to decline, or reaches some point where it's just content to hang out...

Weather Diary, June 3: Hi 72, Low 56/ Precip 0

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26 comments:

  1. Yours is the second comment on ovatifolias in pots I've seen today. It's happening to everyone - ha! Agaves outgrowing their allotted space is a common thing here in Austin, but I confess I'm surprised to see how big they can get in Portland, with your cooler summers. Still, I think your whale looks fantastic just as it is. Hopefully it'll stop growing so fast now that it's clearly rootbound. But if not, it's amazing what hired help can do. ;)

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    1. I was thinking about how hired help in Texas are probably used to working with agaves, I wonder what the average Portland yard care guy would say when confronted with a spiky specimen like this?

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  2. So I guess it stays in the pot, for now? And whatever happened to the accompanying agaves?

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    1. Ya, I'm in no hurry to try moving it! The accompanying agaves were moved into their own containers. One of them has passed on, but the other is still kicking.

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  3. Beautiful textures, containers and shades of green. Enjoy your summer : )

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  4. That is one doozy agave. You have to look just the right way to even see the pot. Handsome plant.

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  5. It really is amazing to see side by side shots of the growth over these ensuing years, not just the agave, but all the plants in the area, too. That fence simply disappeared!

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    1. When we were discussing fence styles Andrew was adamant that we were not spending a lot of money on a fancy fence when I was just going to make it disappear...

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  6. AnonymousJuly 03, 2020

    We just moved an Abies 'Silberlocke' that had been complaining of living in a pot...big job, and with no armor to hold us at bay. I can't even imagine tackling that Agave. It still looks pretty happy, no?
    rickii

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  7. One of my 'Blue Glow' agaves has been in a pot for close to a decade now and it just reached a size and stayed there, although it produced one pup along the way - and you know that 'Blue Glow' doesn't normally pup so I took that as a form of protest. In my case, I'm sure I'd have to break the pot but then the pot isn't all that precious in this case. However, as I have a ridiculous number of 'Blue Glows', I've decided just to let it be.

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    1. A decade huh? Well that's good news. No pups here, but I don't know that I'd be able to see it if there was one under there! (and ovatifolia also isn't usually a pup generator)

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  8. It's so fun to see the changes over time. That's a beautiful Agave, and I'll be curious to hear what happens to it in the future. It's clearly happy in your garden...well, of course it is!

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  9. That's a beautiful agave! I repotted a number of them this year and gave a number of them away. The root-bound ones were a bear to remove, and I don't think I would tackle this one at all!

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    1. I remember reading something once about a thick double-layer of plastic someone lined a couple of pots with to make it easier to get the plants out when the time came. Have you ever heard of such a thing?

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  10. Surprising how fast and lush everything has grown in just 6 years. Must be all that rain. The agave is gorgeous. From what I have heard it will eventually break the pot in it's efforts to get out. The decision will be made for you which might make it easier.

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    1. This pot is super thick, like 3"...if it can bust through that then I guess it deserves to be free.

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  11. I really enjoyed the browse through the back posts. (I noticed the melianthus has gone missing!) Seems to me the whale's tongue agave and Yucca rostrata both grow much faster in the PNW and Austin, where there's a lot more rain than, for example, in SoCal. San Marcos notes this too, that this agave's speed of growth really responds to moisture. I really think it's worth the dough to buy a big Y. rostrata for SoCal, otherwise the growth is so slow. Funny about broken pots! I finally caved and broke the old crumbling polychrome urn from Hotel Figueroa to save the Euphorbia canariensis. Once I started smashing it with the hammer, it felt liberating, like the right thing to do...

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    1. Ya the melianthus was a nice addition while it lasted, but then I think the dry conditions finally did it in (summer dry that is, I don't water back there much at all). As for your other rain observation it makes sense.

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  12. Holy toledo batman! I have no idea how you are going to do this. I struggled this past week with my small agaves, who have refused to die despite my attempts. I freshed up their soil and need to get bigger pots for all of them. Keep us posted on what you end up doing!

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    1. I will keep ya'll posted, no worries there!

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  13. I bet it has sent root down into the soil below. Have you tried shifting the pot at all? What a gorgeous species it is, so elegant and stately. The 2014 arrangement you made has held up beautifully.

    My original ovatifolia is huge but is 98% covered up by one little part of the Leucospermum out on the front slope, which indicates how big the Leucospermum has become.

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